Latest Review Posted | HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW After selling most of my gear to fund other endeavors, I was getting frustrated with all the wildlife picture opportunities in my own backyard. So I got the itch to try a long, modern zoom (rented for a week). But please realize that my primary camera at this point is long in the tooth: the K200D circa 2008.
This lens is quite a handful, but that is to be expected. For me personally, I felt like I could not hold the lens steady via handheld. However, I was able to shoot a passing motor boat at full zoom and read the registration numbers. Not perfect for pixel peepers but legible. I left the Manfrotto mounting plate on the lens to provide a broader surface for support when hand-holding which I think helped.
I did have issues with the zoom shift when trying to take a pic vertically and eventually compressed it to 150mm and used the lock. Unfortunately, I did not get to use it much as I had planned due to work demands so I'll post a few pics for reference.
The gator pic was taken using a tripod, with no corrections made out of the camera (jpeg). The bird pic was also and further taken thru my house window (these critters are skittish so I had to make due).
https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/48559/large/1__IGP9783.JPG https://photos.smugmug.com/Lagniappe/i-4JhxRtH/0/cea41b1c/XL/_IGP9821-XL.jpg
But for me, I found the closeups to 'pop' better than the distant pics:
https://photos.smugmug.com/Lagniappe/i-jGmkqNC/0/4f34a79e/XL/_IGP9754-XL.jpg |